House-Senate GOP War of Words on Obamacare Bill

House GOP leaders thought they’d found the ticket to party unity Wednesday when they announced a bill to keep the government operating in the new fiscal year and strip funding from President Barack Obama’s health care law. They hoped to rally the party behind the cause of tea party allies, who had made “defunding Obamacare” their litmus test issue.

But the move has provoked a remarkable war of words — or at least of tweets — between House and Senate Republicans.

At issue was the measure House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) and his allies unveiled Wednesday after months of pressure from tea party forces — led by Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — to write a bill that cuts off funding for the health care law while funding the rest of the government.